WAtoday.com.au reporter

The radio ratings battle has begun again for another year and each station has its own recipe for success in 2013.

Nova is looking to use big cash competitions to increase its lead on 92.9, 6PR and ABC 720 will fight it out over election coverage and 96FM is hoping its strong new music positioning will be enough to claw back listeners from Mix 94.5, which is in turn sitting pretty in the knowledge that it's on to a winning formula.

The final radio survey of 2012 had Mix 94.5 sitting atop the radio roost, followed by 96FM, ABC720 in third place, Nova 93.7 and triple j on equal fourth, then 92.9, 6PR and finally 6IX.

For every station except the government-owned 720 and triple j, it all comes down to the bankbook; good ratings allow radio stations to sell more advertising spots and the higher the ranking, the higher the price at which those ads can be charged.

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The always popular The Bunch.

#1: Mix 94.5Mix 94.5 is the monster of Perth radio and has barely missed a beat since it began its winning streak more than a decade ago; it notched up 100 consecutive wins before 96FM knocked it off its perch for one survey last year.

The ratings goliath has the luxury of being able to stick with what works.

"We have with a strong-rating heritage breakfast show, a drive show that's been on the air for six years and the good thing for us too is that all of our on-air teams are Perth locals, which is quite unique."

Last year, The Bunch breakfast host Fred Botica celebrated his 20th year on the station and Clarke asserts the team will continue together as long as they rate well.

"If it was a breakfast show in decline you would look at doing something, but the whole station ended the year very strongly," he said.

Mix 94.5 kicks off the year with its biggest community event, the Australia Day Skyworks and will bring back its "big heritage cash contests" Cash Call and Perth Words.

Blackers, Carmen and Fitzy.

#2: 96FMAfter a couple of tumultuous years in which a flood of presenters left the station and the sale of the station was up in the air, 96FM program director Brad McNally is focusing on consistency in 2013.

"We've had enough changes here so we're keeping things as they are," he said.

It's the second year for breakfast combination Blackers, Carmen & Fitzy, who took the reins after Phil "Ugly Phil" O'Neil left the station.

"It's always about breakfast," McNally said.

"I spend an enormous part of my day developing the breakfast show but that's a two-year project.

"It takes a long time to change people's habits."

The station had a surprising coup when it knocked its main competitor, Mix 94.5, from the No. 1 spot at one stage last year.

"We'd like to get back there again; our battle is constantly with Mix," McNally said.

"They've done very well with what they're doing and they hadn't been challenged until 96FM relaunched and changed our format."

McNally said the 96FM brand was so badly damaged prior to its relaunch – he cites the belief of some people that it played Lady Gaga as the "scariest" aspect – that it had almost been completely renamed.

The station will take Mix on head-to-head on Australia Day too; 96FM is taking part in Fremantle's Indian Ocean Skyshow for the first time since the 80s.

Mr Perth, Eoin Cameron.

#3: ABC 720Eoin Cameron's breakfast show is ratings gold for the ABC; he maintained his stronghold on the number one spot since survey two, and with a state election looming there are hopes his market share will increase.

"Eoin is a broadcasting local legend in Western Australia," said ABC local content manager Deborah Leavitt.

"He is Mr Perth and audiences tune into him because he has a terrific warmth and understanding of WA."

Heading into the state election, Leavitt said 720 would focus on getting "out in the community, talking to the candidates and getting to the heart of local election issues".

With government funding in its pocket, the station has no need to link ratings with advertising revenue and Leavitt said the focus was on informing and entertaining audiences.

Nathan, Nat & Shaun.

#4: Nova 93.7Heritage breakfast show Nathan, Nat & Shaun are kicking off their year by teaching Premier Colin Barnett how to surf.

It's this fun-loving, relaxed style that program director Daniel Underhill says has kept them on-air so long; Nathan and Nat will celebrate 10 years together in 2013.

"They've got their own sense of humour, their own style and Perth loves them," Underhill said.

Nova will continue their big cash contests in 2013. Fresh from giving away $1 million in Perth last year, the station is hoping for a survey one boost with "No Strings" in which someone in Perth will win $50,000 just for getting on-air.

#4: triple jtriple j is the only station which has no local content in the Perth market, but it rates extremely well in the youth market.

It finished 2012 with a 24.7 per cent share with 25-39 year olds; a figure unmatched in age groups for over 18s.

Its breakfast show, Tom & Alex, rated the worst of all its shows in the Perth market, finishing seventh.

triple j begins 2013 as it begins every year; encouraging Aussies to vote for the Hottest 100, which will be blared out across speakers nationwide on Australia Day.

Paul, Baz and Lisa.

#6: 92.9With a new content director and new executive producer for 92.9, there are changes ahoy for its breakfast show, Lisa, Paul & Baz.

Content director Todd Campbell said the aim is to "be clever and make it palatable for a broad audience" and that "moving forward, smut is not part of our agenda".

The absence of segments like "What's in Paul's pants" so far this year suggests the show has already gone through some cleansing.

Like 96FM, it's only the second year for the breakfast show, after Paul Hogan joined the team in 2012.

"A year is nothing in radio when you're forming a new relationship and Paul - we'll design the year so listeners can get to know him even more," Campbell said.

While Nova has the money bags to lure listeners, 92.9 will focus on "real human stuff" instead.

The station could see a rise across the workday when Hamish & Andy return to the daily line-up with their Business Brunch 9-10am Tuesday to Friday (their Friday drive show has been shifted to Monday and Fifi & Jules will finish the drive week).

#7: 6PRLike the ABC, 6PR is also pinning its ratings hopes on being the go-to station for politics.

"Paul Murray has one of the sharpest political minds in the state and talk radio is the forum to get things done and get your opinions heard," program director John Solvander said.

The station will be relaunched in February with a "marketing refocus more on community interaction and involvement".

According to Solvander, the recent appointment of Jane Marwick to Afternoons will also help "freshen up" the station.

"Like every radio station, we always want to rate better," Solvander said.

"We've got some ground to make up on the ABC.

"They are a formidable organisation; extremely well funded, no commercials and they integrate across their entire platforms very well.

Solvander expects a ratings spike in March when the AFL begins.

"We are the only radio station in Perth that has a person in the studio 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," he said.

"Another big thing for us, which is a big thing for WA people, especially footy fans, we're the only commercial AFL station."

Perennial housewives' favourite, "Baby" John Burgess.

#8: 6IX6IX is the poor cousin of Perth radio; ranking eighth in both the key breakfast timeslot and as a station in general.

Not even the recruitment of former Wheel of Fortune host "Baby" John Burgess could resurrect 6IX's ratings; his Classic Breakfast show holds just 5.3 per cent of listeners.

However, 6IX general manager Josh Elliot said ranking number one overall (in the 10+ share category) isn't the station's goal.

"Our focus is always on our primary audience of 40-64 year olds, not out 10+ share," Elliot said.

"We're the number one commercial station with listeners 55-64 years and with listeners 40-64 we have the longest Time Spent Listening of any station in Perth."

The results for the first six-week ratings survey period are due on March 5, with another seven to be released throughout the year.

6PR and 96fm are owned by Fairfax, which is also the owner of WAtoday.com.au.

Our focus is always on our primary audience of 40-64 year olds, not our 10+ share. We’re the number one commercial station with listeners 55-64 years, and with listeners 40-64 we have the longest Time Spent Listening of any station in Perth.

5 comments so far

94.5 have started playing a lot of boppy music which is a huge turn off for me, and the breakfast bunch sound tired and bored most of the time.

John Burgess is just plain painful to listen to and if you want to listen to 6IX on the drive into the city you must change from FM to AM, why promote digital radio when they can't even get that right.

Perth radio is is, on the whole, in a sad state at the moment, you get one extreme to the other, there is no one size fits all. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe not.

Commenter

Syphur

Location

Date and time

January 22, 2013, 8:57AM

Breakfast with Barr still remains underated... Long live community radio.

but then i'll never understand why people want to listen to the same songs everyday. I'm just glad that there are still choices for those who don't care for commercial radio.

Commenter

sparkles

Location

the tardis

Date and time

January 22, 2013, 9:02AM

I'll listen to the first radio station that just plays music and doesn't have idiots droning on about crap that interests no one

Commenter

Ailie

Location

Date and time

January 22, 2013, 3:47PM

In reference to 6IX, I think for them to gain any momentum in the ratings, they really need to establish an FM signal to cover the whole metro area. Yes there is digital radio giving a superior sound, but very few people would have a digital radio in their car. Also, some promotion in other media would help as they no longer play just 60's & 70's but play a lot more 80s & the odd 90s song, but, to really gain a firmer hold on the market they really need to convert to a true "classic hits" station along the lines of WSFM Sydney or Gold Fm Melbourne - I really think this format is missing in Perth. So, combine a full FM signal, update to Classic hits, refresh the announcers, bit of promotion & maybe they can grab a few more ratings points.

Commenter

Charlie

Location

Perth

Date and time

January 23, 2013, 6:55PM

I stopped listening to the likes of 94.5 and 96FM a number of years ago after I got sick and tired of moronic presenters droning on about dross and utter rubbish. So now, for my preferred music, I listen to internet radio that only plays music interspersed with a few ads and stick with talkback (Paul Murray, 6PR) in the mornings.